American studio LOT-EK has used brightly painted, metal cargo containers to create a vertical enclosure and a rooftop penthouse for an urban residence owned by a creative couple in New York. More about LOT-EK uses shipping containers to overhaul Brooklyn carriage house
A shipping container appears to be slipping away from the top of this house on the island of Lombok, designed by Indonesian architect Budi Pradono. More about Budi Pradono tops hillside house in Lombok with tilted shipping container
UK architect Simon Astridge has used shipping containers, exposed plasterwork and clay lighting to create the offices and showroom for a London tile manufacturer. More about Simon Astridge stacks shipping containers to create backyard London office
Canadian company Modpools has converted standard, metal cargo containers into pools and jacuzzis that can be installed above or below ground. More about Modpools repurposes used shipping containers as swimming pools and hot tubs
Scott Whitby Studio has used over 1,000 foam pyramids to transform a shipping container into a pop-up cinema where port workers can be taught vital health and safety information. More about Scott Whitby Studio transforms shipping container into "caution cinema"
Brightly painted shipping containers are stacked one on top of the other to house bunk beds at this hostel in Nha Trang, which also features aerial bridges and giant communal hammocks. More about Stacked shipping containers house bedrooms at Vietnam hostel by TAK Architects
Shipping containers are stacked on a floating platform to create these buoyant student halls of residence designed by Bjarke Ingels' firm for Copenhagen harbour (+ slideshow). More about BIG stacks shipping containers to create floating student housing in Copenhagen harbour
Online retailer Needs & Wants Studios has collaborated with a Toronto architecture student to transform a shipping container into a mobile boutique that serves as the brand's first physical store (+ slideshow). More about Shipping container serves as mobile boutique for luxury sportswear brand Needs & Wants
People's Architecture Office has used 12 shipping containers to build a temporary, red and yellow pavilion in a fast-growing town in China's Shanxi province (+ slideshow). More about Stacked shipping containers form temporary pavilion by People's Architecture Office
Architect Josué Gillet used shipping containers to construct this prefabricated house in France, which features an asymmetric facade and a rooftop terrace (+ slideshow). More about Converted shipping containers combine to form angular Flying Box house
Cumulus Studio has used shipping containers to create a lookout tower and wine-tasting space at a vineyard in Tasmania (+ slideshow). More about Cumulus Studio uses shipping containers to create lookout tower at a Tasmanian vineyard
Swiss architecture firm Bureau A has created Steelhenge: a recreation of the prehistoric English stone circle built from 50 shipping containers. More about Bureau A recreates Stonehenge using shipping containers
Architectural firm Pedro Barata e Arquitetos Associados has created a 12-metre-tall periscope in Brazil using a shipping container stood on its end. More about Pedro Barata transforms shipping container into "world's biggest periscope"
Architects are increasingly proposing new architectural uses for shipping containers, such as replacing slum housing with skyscrapers formed from the stacked metal boxes and forming staircases by balancing them at an angle. We've collected together the best shipping-container projects, both realised and proposed, from the pages of Dezeen and pinned them to a new Pinterest board.
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More about Explore examples of shipping-container architecture on our new Pinterest board
CRG Architects has unveiled a proposal to replace slum housing with a pair of skyscrapers comprising stacks of brightly coloured shipping containers. More about CRG Architects unveils concept for shipping container skyscrapers
LA-based CHA:COL has completed a "bare bones" office for tech startups that features a retrofitted shipping container and a wooden bleacher that doubles as a storage unit (+ slideshow). More about California tech incubator by CHA:COL discourages occupants from staying too long
Shipping containers are often repurposed to create buildings, and this structure by Tel Aviv studio Potash Architects features one container balanced at a precarious angle (+ slideshow). More about Angled shipping container houses a staircase for Israeli port office by Potash Architects
Four shipping containers suspended from the ceiling contain displays of merchandise inside this clothing store in La Plata, Argentina, by BBC Arquitectos (+ slideshow). More about Shipping containers are suspended above shoppers inside Le Utthe boutique
These renders by London architect James Whitaker depict a proposal for a low-cost studio space in Germany comprising a cluster of shipping containers, which are arranged to direct sunlight into the interior at different times of day (+ slideshow). More about James Whitaker proposes cluster of shipping containers as an affordable workplace
A balcony shaded by steel fins projects from the upper storey of this house in Northern Ireland, which architect and farmer Patrick Bradley built using four used shipping containers (+ slideshow). More about Grillagh Water House by Patrick Bradley is made up of four stacked shipping containers